generations the Hisgins family have had men children for their first-born
and even the Hisginses themselves have long considered the tale to be
little more than a myth.

"To come to the present, the eldest child of the reigning family is
a girl and she has been often teased and warned in jest by her
friends and relations that she is the first girl to be the eldest
for seven generations and that she would have to keep her men
friends at arm's length or go into a nunnery if she hoped to escape
the haunting. And this, I think, shows us how thoroughly the tale
had grown to be considered as nothing worthy of the least serious
thought. Don't you think so?

"Two months ago Miss Hisgins became engaged to Beaumont, a young Naval
Officer, and on the evening of the very day of the engagement, before it
was even formally announced, a most extraordinary thing happened which
resulted in Captain Hisgins making the appointment and my ultimately
going down to their place to look into the thing.

"From the old family records and papers that were entrusted to me I
found that there could be no possible doubt that prior to something like
a hundred and fifty years ago there were some very extraordinary and
disagreeable coincidences, to put the thing in the least emotional way.
In the whole of the two centuries prior to that date there were five
first-born girls out of a total of seven generations of the family. Each
of these girls grew up to maidenhood and each became engaged, and each
one died during the period of engagement, two by suicide, one by falling
from a window, one from a 'broken heart' (presumably heart failure,
owing to sudden shock through fright). The fifth girl was killed one
evening in the park 'round the house; but just how, there seemed to be
no _exact_ knowledge; only that there was an impression that she had
been kicked by a horse. She was dead when found. Now, you see, all of
these deaths might be attributed in a way--even the suicides--to natural
causes, I mean as distinct from supernatural. You see? Yet, in every
case the maidens had undoubtedly suffered some extraordinary and
terrifying experiences during their various courtships for in all of the
records there was mention either of the neighing of an unseen horse or
of the sounds of an invisible horse galloping, as well as many other
peculiar and quite inexplicable manifestations. You begin to understand
now, I think, just how extraordinary a business it was that